Unexpected Changes
by MelBelle033
Summary: Can you imagine being pregnant in high school, and living in a small Texas town? Julie Taylor never thought she would be one of those girls. And yet here she is, pregnant... And with Tim Riggins baby! Rewritten with a bit of a twist.
1. Chapter 1

Unexpected Changes

Chapter 1: This Can't Be Happening.

I know I said I would have these stories out by October, but so many things got in the way. but at least now I can wish you all a happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it).

Author's Note: The time frame for this is still the same: season three, no Gracie, no Tim/Lyla hookup, Tim didn't get kicked out of the Taylor's in season two, he stayed for almost two months, before moving back in with Billy. The only difference this time is that instead of it being a drunken hookup, Tim and Julie are dating, they starting dating a few months after he moved out of the Taylor's, and they've been dating for about seven months, if you don't like this storyline then let me know, because I can always change it back.

Disclaimer: I do not own Friday Night Lights or these characters! If I did own the characters Julie and Tim would be together. This is purely for entertainment, no profit is gained.

Julie Taylor sat on the corner of the bathroom tub as hot tears ran down her face. After 5 minutes, which felt more like an eternity to Julie, the results were in. Julie walked over to the sink, where the pregnancy test was sitting, and tentatively looked down, scared of what the results would be. Two bright pink lines. It was positive.

"This can't be happening." She said quietly to herself as she looked down at the positive pregnancy test in her hands, tears running down her face. "How could we be so stupid?" Julie said, her voice barely a whisper as she continued to cry silently.

"Julie, honey?" Tami called knocking on the bathroom door. 'She's been in there forever now, what on earth could she be doing?' Tami thought. "We need to leave now or we're gonna be late for school." Tami said in a stern voice, being the guidance counselor meant she needed to be at the school on time, if not early. 'If Julie wants to spend ages getting ready she will need to wake up earlier.' Tami thought.

Julie snapped out of her daze, horrified, she quickly shoved the test from her hands into her messenger bag. "I'll be out in just a second mom." Julie said trying to keep her voice from breaking as she wiped away her tears.

"Alright, I'll be in the kitchen." Tami said before she walked away from the door.

Julie checked her appearance in the mirror, she looked horrible, she had dark circles under her eyes from the lack of sleep she has had in past week, her lips were puffy and her eyes bloodshot from her crying, and she looked unbelievably pale. Julie quickly splashed cold water on her face to take away some of the puffiness, then she applied simple makeup, just some mascara and her favorite strawberry lipgloss, after that she rushed down the small hallway that led into the kitchen, where she knew her mom was waiting for her.

"Finally," Tami said as she looked at her daughter, she noticed her red eyes, the puffiness of her lips and cheeks, and the sad expression on her face; all the signs that Julie had been crying. "Is everythin' okay, sweetie?" Tami asked a look of concern on her face. 'Why would Julie be crying?' She thought.

"I'm fine, just tired." Julie said as she faked a yawn. Tami looked at Julie skeptically.

"Did something happen between you and -" Tami started, only to be cut off by her daughter.

"I said I'm fine mom. I'm tired, every teenager has days when they wake up tired and in a bad mood. Today is one of those days." Julie said looking away from her mother's burning gaze. She grabbed a hoodie off the coat rack by the front door and headed out toward her mom's car, a beige 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier, her mom followed closely behind after she grabbed her own coat.

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On the drive to school Tami made small talk as Julie looked out the window and nodded, not really listening; her mind was lost in her own thoughts.

Is she really pregnant? Could it have been a false positive? If she is pregnant, what was she going to do? Would she terminate it? If she got an abortion nobody would ever have to know. Or would she keep the baby? Maybe she could look into adoption? She knew though that if she chose either of those options, there would be no way of hiding it. Should she tell her parents? Should she tell Tim? There were so many questions going through her mind, and she didn't have an answer for a single one.

"Julie." Tami said noticing her daughter wasn't listening. She was starting to get worried, Julie didn't just space out, she always has something to say, especially when someone brought up reading like Tami did a minute ago. "What's goin' on? You're not yourself this mornin'." Tami said as she looked away from the road and over to her daughter.

"Nothing's going on, I already told you I'm just tired." Julie said just as her mom pulled into a parking spot at the school. Julie didn't waste any time and bolted out the car before it even stopped. She rushed toward the doors of Dillon High in order to avoid a conversation with her mom that she knew would most likely end with both of them in tears, or Tami screaming at her for being so irresponsible. Julie walked to her locker just before the first period bell rang. She couldn't keep her paranoia at bay... She felt like everyone was looking at her, like they knew. Maybe she should just tell him now and get it over with, she would hate it if he heard it from someone else.

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Julie walked into the lunchroom and immediately looked over at the football table, still no sign of Tim. Julie walked over to the vending machines after she saw that today's lunch was what appeared to be mystery meat, she quickly payed for a water and pulled an apple out of her bag. She made her way over to her usual table; it sat in a corner next to a window, across from the cafeteria doors, it overlooked the football table, really it over looked all the tables, but the football table was in the center of the room so it was hard to miss. Julie sat down and glanced at the door one more time, hoping to see him walk in. Unfortunately the only person she knew that walked in was Tyra, who made her way over to Julie's table after she stopped at the vending machines herself.

"Hey. Where have you been? I was lookin' for you last period." Tyra said as she sat down with a soda and a bag of 'Famous Amos' chocolate chip cookies.

"Last period was my free period, I was in the library workin' on this week's article for the school paper, then I went to the auditorium to work on my dance routine." Julie said before she glanced at the doors again, he sit hadn't walked in, and she hadn't seen him all day. 'He must be skipping,' she thought. 'Typical Tim.'

"Oh, well your mom asked me to check on you during our weekly meeting. She said you were actin' weird this mornin', and even now you're all distracted and spacey." Tyra said, looking at Julie, who continued to let her eyes roam around the cafeteria. "Julie what's goin' on?" Tyra asked while she snapped her fingers in front of Julie's face, trying to get her attention.

"Nothing's going on, I told her I was just tired this mornin'. I just haven't gotten much sleep this week." Julie said while she looked down at her hands, she couldn't tell Tyra the truth. Julie went to eating her apple so she wouldn't have to say anything more.

"That's bullshit Jules, and you know it. I'm your friend and I'm worried about you, so tell me what's goin' on." Tyra said. Julie looked up at Tyra and saw the determination in her eyes and if she knew anything about her best friend, it was that she would not give up without a fight, she would keep pushing Julie until she told her the truth.

"Fine. But not here." Julie said with a huff as she put her water bottle into her bag deciding to save it for dance practice. Tyra finished off her bag of cookies and stood up, grabbing her soda, ready for Julie to lead the way.

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Julie walked into the girl's bathroom and hunched down to check all the stalls to make sure nobody else was there, when she saw it was just Tyra and herself she dug through her bag until she found what she was looking for and handed it to Tyra. Tyra was silent for a long while as she looked down at the positive pregnancy text, too shocked to speak, she looked up at Julie with wide eyes and saw Julie was already staring at her with her own wide, tear filled eyes.

"Are you sure? Is this the only test you got?" Tyra asked. Maybe it wasn't accurate, it could have been a false positive. That kind of thing happens, right? Julie shook her head back and forth as she wrapped her arms around herself protectively and tried not to cry.

"That's the only one I bought because I didn't want someone to see me buying a frickin' pregnancy test at the drugstore and tell my parents. I'm pretty sure it's right though. At first I thought it was just stress, but I'm almost two weeks late." Julie said in a rush of words before she took in a deep breath, trying to keep her tears from falling.

Tyra embraced Julie in a big bear hug, promising her that everything would be okay, even though they both knew it wouldn't be, everything would change when word caught wind. Julie cried into Tyra's shoulder, while Tyra continued to whisper reassuring words to her. They broke the hug after awhile and Tyra jumped.

"Stay right here, I'll be right back. I promise." Tyra said as she took off like a light towards the nurse's offices, she faked a look of panic before she rushed in. "Ms. Collins! Thank god. Landry's hurt he fell off the stairs in gym and he landed on his ankle, I think he may have broken it." She said in a rush and watched as Ms. Collins, a heavy-set women with light brown hair, grabbed what she thought would be needed and rushed toward the gym.

'That should give me at least a few minutes.' Tyra thought as she started digging through all the drawers and cabinets until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed five pregnancy tests and stuffed them into her bag. 'Better safe than sorry.' Tyra thought as she rushed back to the bathroom before the nurse came back and realized she lied... Or rather, why she lied.

"Here." Tyra said after she took the tests out of her bag and handed them to Julie, who looked down at the tests then back up at Tyra.

"How the hell did you get these?" Julie asked with quizzical eyes.

"I'll tell you later." Tyra said.

After a few minutes and a lot of water Julie came out and put all the tests on the sink, waiting for the results. Tyra put her arm around Julie's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"Everything will be okay, sure things are going to change, and your parents are gonna freak, but they'll still love you, they're you're parents, they'll always love you." Tyra said looking down at her best friend.

"It's not just my parents I'm worried about." Julie said quietly as she looked down at her feet.

"Jules he'll be okay. He may be shocked and upset at first, but trust me, he'll be okay. Tim loves you, there's no doubt in my mind about that." Tyra said. She was pissed that he was so reckless and she wanted nothing more that to go find him and knock some sense into his ass, he was smarter than this, but her friend needed her right now and she wasn't going to leave her. She looked down seeing the results show up.

"We haven't even said "I love you" yet." Julie said, while Tyra rolled her eyes, they loved each other, it was obvious to everyone except them. "Here goes nothing," Julie said as she removed her eyes from her shoes to look at the results of the tests. Positive. Every single one was positive. Tyra let out a big sigh and pulled a sobbing Julie into another hug.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do Tyra." Julie cried her voice muffled by Tyra's shirt. She was seventeen; she was supposed to be worried about saving up to buy a car, getting the perfect dress for prom, SATs, NOT having a baby.

"You gotta tell him, sweetie. No matter what your final decision ends up being." Tyra said as she ended the hug but kept her arm around Julie. "Come on let's get you cleaned up." She said when she saw the mascara running down Julie's face.

They got Julie cleaned up and waited for puffiness to go down. Julie grabbed the tests and threw them into the trash can, along with the one she took earlier this morning, and covered them up with serval wadded up paper towels. Tyra walked with Julie toward her locker once most of the puffiness was gone. They got there just before the bell rang and everyone started coming out of the cafeteria. That's when she saw him. They locked eyes and he sent her a small smirk. She turned away from his gaze and back to her locker. She grabbed her books and hurried off toward her next class. Tim frowned as he watched her walk away, a confused look on his face. Something was off she looked like she'd been crying. 'Was it something I did?' He thought.

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The bell rang signaling the end of school, Julie walked toward her locker with her A.P English book in hand when someone snuck up behind her, she let out a small yelp, jumped, and dropped her books. She turned around to see Brain 'Smash' Williams smirking at her.

"What the hell Smash? You scared the crap outta me!" Julie exclaimed while she bent down to retrieve her books.

"Why so jumpy Juu-lee?" He said with that annoying smirk of his. "Worried someone caught you walking out of the janitor's closet after a make out session with a certain brooding fullback?" Smash asked with a chuckle, he loved to rile Julie up, it was just too fun.

"No, I haven't spoken to him all day, if you must know." Julie said while she glanced around the hallway to see if he was anywhere insight, like every other time today, he wasn't. "What do you want Smash?"

"Your dad told me to let you know that your mom has a meeting and you need to wait for him after practice." Smash said.

"Okay thanks." Julie said and walked to her locker.

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Julie walked out toward the football field after dance practice and waved at her dad so he knew she was there, he sent a wave back as she sat down on the bleachers. She looked at the field, the team was running end of practice drills. She looked across the field and when her eyes finally landed on him she saw he was already looking at her. She looked away quickly trying to focus on anything but him. Tim continued to look at her, even more confused now than he was at lunch. 'What's going on with her?' He thought. Julie pulled a book out of her bag, deciding to use it as a distraction, but when all she could focus on was how to tell him, she decided it was just easier to just pretend to read it until practice was over.

Soon enough practice was over and Julie watched from her spot, leaning on her dad's navy 2001 Ford Explorer, as everyone started to slowly come out of the locker room she knew her dad would be awhile because he had to lock up. She watched until she found the person she was looking for, of course he was one of the last people out. He always had to take his sweet time. She left her dad's SUV and made her way toward him.

"Tim, I need to talk to you." Julie said as she stopped in front of him just before he got to his truck.

"Okay... What's on your mind, beautiful?" Tim asked as they continued to walk together toward Tim's truck.

"Well, a few things." Julie said taking a deep breath. How is she supposed to tell him something like this? This is something that'll change both their lives forever... That's not something to be taken lightly.

"Like what?" He asked. 'Is she about to break up with me? It would explain why she's been ignoring me.' He thought.

"What is your opinion on kids?" Julie asked. She looked back over to the locker room, just in time to see her dad walk out and lock up, before making his way over to them. "Because... I, um, I have this babysitting job this weekend and I'm allowed to bring someone over." Julie lied, well not completely, she did have to babysit this weekend, and she was allowed to invite Tim. She just couldn't tell him, not now... Not with her dad on his way over.

"Is this your way of asking me to help you babysit?" Tim asked with a smirk as he throw an arm over her shoulder and pulled Julie closer to him.

"Well, he's about seven, so I thought maybe, you could teach him a little something about football, so yes... This is my way of asking you to help me babysit." Julie said. "But I should warn you, there's also a six-month-old girl involved."

"I'll come... It actually sounds like fun." Tim said with a smile as he kissed the top of Julie's head. He was glad she seemed a bit more normal, she had him worried for a second there.

"Really?" Julie asked surprised. She wouldn't have thought that Tim would find the idea babysitting fun.

"Yeah."

"Hey, I invited Tim over for dinner. I hope that's okay." Eric said once he finally made his way over to them.

"Yeah that's fine." Julie said, even though she was a bit upset. Normally Julie would love to have Tim over for dinner, but today was not one of days. She didn't think she could last a whole dinner before blurting out the news.

"Do you want to ride with me or Tim?" Eric asked, although, he wasn't sure why, of course Julie would want to ride home with her boyfriend.

"I'll go with you." Julie said looking at her dad. Both Tim and Eric looked at her, confused. Well, this might be an interesting dinner.

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I know it's not much different then the original, but I mainly just focused on making it more detailed and obviously with the big change of Tim and Julie actually being together, rather then them just having a one night stand. As always please review and tell me your thoughts... Do you like the new addition to the story? Or were you a fan of the old drunken hookup idea? How does this chapter differ in comparison to the old story? Let me know and don't forget to follow and favorite! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Unexpected Changes

Chapter 2: Breaking the News

As usual it took me much longer to post this than it should have. I was having a really hard time writing how Tim would react when he heard the news, and I'm still not quite happy with how it turned out, but I guess a bad update it better than no update at all.

Julie sat at the kitchen table and watched her dad and Tim talk animatedly about the upcoming football season. It was expected to be a great season. Tim had been working hard at improving his new position as running back until Smash is cleared to play again. Her dad has been working overtime to help strengthen Smash's knee back to one hundred percent and he's been working with Matt on improving his leadership skills.

"Is everything alright sweetie? You've hardly touched your chili." Eric noticed as he looked over at his daughter for the first time since he and Tim started on with their football talk.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just not that hungry, I guess." Julie said while she swirled her spoon around in her chili, her mind in an endless cycle of what ifs.

"You think you might be getting sick?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, maybe that's it." Julie lied; obviously she wasn't going to tell her dad the truth. She wouldn't blindside Tim like that. "Actually. I'm feeling kinda tired. I think I'm gonna call it a night." Julie said as she got up, put her leftovers away, and rinsed out her bowl.

"Okay, sweetie. I hope you feel better." Eric said as Julie walked over to him. She quickly gave him kiss on the cheek, like she did most nights before saying goodnight.

"Thanks dad." She said and then made her way to Tim and gave him a quick peck on the lips and said goodnight, ignoring the way her father clenched his jaw. They've been dating for almost seven months now; you would think he'd be used to the sight of them kissing.

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"Hey Hun, I left out a bowl of chili for you in case you're hungry." Eric said from his spot on his La-Z-Boy recliner. Tami smiled when she walked into the kitchen to see that the dishes from dinner had already been washed and put away.

"Thanks Hun." She said as she put the bowl of chili in the microwave. She made her way over to the living room and stood behind the recliner as she wrapped her arms around her husband's shoulders. Eric placed a hand over hers as he paused his game type.

"How was book club?" He asked with a large grin, already knowing the answer.

"Ugh, don't even get me started. These booster wives are going to drive me insane this year. Why couldn't we just have a sucky football team, then we wouldn't have to worry about all this madness." Tami said with a dramatic sigh.

"Because if we had a sucky team then I would probably be out of a job." Eric said with a little smile at his wife's mini rant.

"Where's Julie?" Tami said changing the subject. It was only nine; normally she would be out working on her homework in the kitchen.

"She went into her room a couple of hours ago. She wasn't feelin' well; I think she may be getting sick." Eric said.

"Hmm, she was pretty cranky this mornin'." Tami added in. "Do you think she and Tim are fighting?" She asked.

"No I don't think that's it. Everything seemed fine between them at dinner." Eric said.

"Tim was here for dinner?" Tami asked.

"Yeah you just missed him, Billy called and said he had to get home. Which is a damn same; we were about to start a game of ping-pong." Eric said with a slight frown causing Tami to chuckle.

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"Jules, it's been three days and you still haven't told him." Tyra scolded as Julie looked through her closet.

"I know, but the timing just couldn't be worse. Football season is just starting, so my dad has them swamped with two-a-days, Tim's been working at Buddy's dealership when he's not practicing, and I've been taking extra shifts at Applebee's." Julie said, and it was true. They never had time to see each other lately and every time they did, she got close to telling him, only to chicken out. She exited her closet after she found the sweater she was looking for.

"Julie, you need to tell him, preferably BEFORE you start showing." Tyra said.

"He's helping me babysit tomorrow, I'll tell him then." Julie said with a sinking pit in her stomach at the thought.

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Tim pulled into the Taylor's driveway to pick Julie up for babysitting. He wasn't sure if she still wanted him to tag along because they really haven't talked all that much since she asked him a few days ago, and when they did talk it seemed like she was a million miles away. He anxiously walked up to the door and knocked all the while feeling his stomach sink. 'What the hell is going on?' He thought, 'why am I so worried all the sudden? It's just babysitting.'

"Hey." Julie said answering the door with a bright smile on her face glad to see her boyfriend, but then she remember that today was the day she would tell him, her stomach twisted at the thought. "I'm almost ready, I just have to grab something." She said before disappearing back into the house, only to come out moments later with a few games. "Just in case Jamie gets bored." Julie said.

"Who's Jamie?" Tim asked, confusion etched across his face.

"He's the little boy. I figured if Emma falls asleep we could all play a game." Julie said while Tim opened the passenger side door for her, the damn thing still sticks after Guy smashed it in, probably always will stick.

"How old is Emma again?" Tim asked once he got in the car himself.

"Six months." Julie said while Tim turned on the car and backed out of the driveway.

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The short drive over was spent in comfortable silence. Tim and Julie making idle chit-chat here and there about the current events in their lives, Tim would tell Julie about working at Buddy's and she would tell him about the annoying boosters that always sat in her section at Applebee's. Ten minutes of driving and Julie pointed at a driveway, telling Tim to park.

They exited the truck and knocked on the door. A youngish woman, probably in her thirties, answered the door with a bright smile.

"Hey Julie, come on in." She said with a small southern drawl. "I left all the numbers on the fridge, as usual. Emma's in the playpen, and Jamie is outside." She said before looking behind Julie to Tim.

"Hi, I'm Sally." The woman extended her hand towards Tim, he smiled and reached out to shake her hand.

"Tim." He said.

"Oh, I know. Jamie drags me out to the games constantly, he can't stop talking about you, he'll be so excited when he meets you." She said with a big smile before she left, telling them to call if they needed anything. Julie laughed as the woman sped out the door.

"Is she always like that?" Tim asked with a frightened look, referring to Sally's fast paced mannerisms. "Seriously I'm pretty sure that woman can talk a mile in a minute!" Tim said flabbergasted.

"That's Sally for ya, she's always in a rush." Julie said while she grabbed Emma out of her playpen. She headed toward the sliding doors in the kitchen that led into the backyard, where she could see Jamie throwing a football around to himself, a smile on his face.

"Hey, Jimmy-jam. I've got someone here I'd like you to meet." Julie said as Tim followed her out. The boy's face instantly lit up at the sight of the Dillon's Panthers' starting fullback standing in his backyard.

"Tim Riggins! I come to all the games. You're awesome!" Jamie said with a bright smile as he quickly made his way over to the couple. "My dream is that I can be a fullback for the Panthers just like you." he said while looking up at a blushing Tim. That's right, blushing!

"Well thanks kid. And you'll get there, trust me." Tim said rubbing Jamie's head.

"Will you play catch with me? Is that okay Julie?" Jamie asked hopefully looking up at Julie with wide eyes.

"Of course it's okay. Y'all go have fun. I've gotta change little Emma here anyway." Julie said giving Tim a light peck on the lips before she made her way back into the house to change Emma.

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"So is Julie your girlfriend?" Jamie asked as he threw the ball to Tim. Tim smiled, easily catching the ball and very lightly throwing it back.

"Yep, has been for about seven months now." Tim replied.

"I like Julie, she's my favorite babysitter." Jamie said with a smile, throwing the ball back. "Do you think you guys will get married?" Jamie asked. Tim almost dropped the ball at the sudden question.

"Um, I've never really thought about it, but I don't know, maybe someday." Tim answered honestly as he looked toward the house Julie had disappeared into only minutes ago. Tim had never thought about marriage, but he would be lying if he said he hadn't pictured Julie in his future plans.

"Well, I think you should marry her, she's really pretty." Jamie said innocently as he waited for Tim to throw the ball back.

"That she is." Tim said with a smirk, finally throwing the ball.

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Julie changed Emma's diaper and was about to head down stairs when she heard laughter coming from outside. She walked over to the window of Emma's room, from it you could see the whole backyard, and the sight before her brought an instant smile to her face.

Tim and Jamie were running around, Jamie had the ball as he ran away from Tim. Tim smiled as he light-heartedly chased the boy, making sure he wouldn't actually catch him. Jamie ran into an imaginary end zone and dropped the ball.

"Touchdown!" Julie heard Jamie shout with a smile. She saw Tim walked up to him and say something she couldn't hear before the two high-fived and went back to their game.

Julie couldn't help but wonder what type of father Tim would be, by the looks of things he would be a great father, to a boy. But what about a girl? How could he handle that? After a deep breath, Julie headed back out to the yard.

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"I mean did you see me, I totally kicked butt!" Jamie said ecstatically as the three of them, and Emma, sat around the kitchen table eating lunch.

"Yes you did." Tim said sending a smirk toward Julie's direction as Jamie's smile became ten times brighter at Tim's short response.

"Yeah you did great Jamie." Julie said with a smile trying to keep up with the conversation. Her mind kept wondering off, something that seemed to be a usual thing as of late.

"Everything okay?" Tim asked Julie when he noticed her spacey look.

"Yeah, just haven't been sleeping all that well." Julie said lamely and then took a large bite of her food to avoid talking about it any further.

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"Will you watch my show with me when it comes on?" Jamie asked looking at Julie as she cleaned and put the last dish from lunch away.

"I'd love to Jamie, but I've gotta put Emma down for her nap, and that usual takes away." Julie said a little bummed, this is the first time Jamie actually asked her to do something with him instead of Tim all day.

"I can put her down for her nap." Tim said coming into the kitchen holding Emma. Julie looked over to him and her heart melted at the sight in front of her, at the sight of Tim smiling at the sleepy baby looking up at him.

"Are you sure, she can get pretty fussy." Julie said.

"Yeah it's no problem." Tim said looking away from Emma and over to Julie. "It'll be good practice." He said with a wink that made Julie's heart stop.

'Oh, if only he knew.' Julie thought her stomach tightening in a knot at the thought.

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Tim placed Emma in her crib and looked around for a book Julie mentioned she always read to Emma before naptime. After several minutes of looking around the toy filled room, he hadn't found the book. Tim decided to give up on his quest to find the book and instead pulled a chair up to Emma's crib and sat down as he tried to think of any fairytales to tell Emma, he came up completely blank. 'Maybe I can sing her a lullaby.' Tim thought, now trying to think of some sort of lullaby to sing her. Once again, he came up blank. 'Well, who says it has to be a lullaby,' he thought.

"Okay, I can't promise I'll be any good at this. Julie always picks on me for singing off-tune, but thankfully you can't really say anything." Tim said with a smirk as Emma cooed. "Here goes nothing." Tim said as he began to quietly sing Tim McGraw's "Take Me Away From Here". He was halfway through singing the song for the fourth time when he noticed Emma's eyes were closed, but he continued to sing just in case she wasn't completely asleep.

As he continued to sing he couldn't help but think how much the song reminded him of his relationship with the Taylor's. Before them, he was on a path of self-destruction. Despite his pure talent, Tim never took the game of football all that seriously, he would show up half-drunk or hungover, not a care in the world about how that would affect the team. He had a new girl every night, even when he was "dating" Tyra, if you could even call it that. His grades were shit, he just kept his grades up enough to play, and he didn't have any plans for his future. But then he moved in with the Taylor's his junior year and Tami forced him to keep up with his schoolwork, something Julie usually helped him out with. Coach Taylor started expecting more of him out on the field, and Tim found himself actually wanting to put in that extra effort. Julie convinced him to patch things up with Billy, and the brothers are closer than they've ever been because of that. Eric gave him a place to stay when he had nowhere else to go, and it was something that changed his life for the better. He owed everything good in his life now to the Taylor's.

Tim finished the song and could hear Emma's steady breathing, a sure sign she was sleeping. He slowly got up from the chair and left the room as quietly as he could, being extra careful so he would not to wake her.

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Julie saw Tim walking down the stairs and looked over at Jamie to see him entranced by the cartoon they were watching. 'I guess it's now or never," She thought and got up to meet Tim at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, can we talk in the kitchen for a second?" Julie asked Tim, he nodded .She led the way, taking deep breaths the whole way, attempting to calm herself.

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"What's going on?" Tim said once they were far enough out of earshot from Jamie.

"I don't really know of any way to sugarcoat this so I'm just gonna say it." Julie said and took another deep breath. "I um, I'm pregnant." Julie said quietly, like if she whispered it, it would make it not true.

"What?" Tim asked with an empty look in his eyes.

"I'm pregnant." Julie said a little louder this time.

'But, we've been so careful.' Was Tim's first thought, but then he really thought about it and remembered a certain time about a month ago when, in the heat of the moment, they hadn't used protection. 'And it only takes one time.' He thought.

"Are you sure?" Tim said, maybe she wasn't really pregnant but just stressed. 'That can make you late, right?' He thought, while still trying to wrap his head around the idea.

"Well, I haven't gone to a doctor or anything like that, but I'm two weeks late, and I took six tests, all positive." Julie said, tears glistening in her warm brown eyes.

"Two weeks. You've been late for two weeks and you didn't think to tell me before this!" Tim said his voice rising in pitch as his own green eyes started to form tears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't even find out until a few days ago, I've just been trying to find a way to tell you." Julie said and let the tears fall.

"A few days, when did you find out?" Tim asked her, more like interrogated as he raised his voice, getting bit angry.

"The day you came over for dinner." Julie said looking down. She heard Tim scoff and forced herself to look back up.

"I asked what was up with you that day, and you said nothing, the whole time you knew you were pregnant. You've gotta be kidding me!" Tim said as he paced back and forth in the small kitchen.

"I'm so sorry Tim. I wanted to tell you, I just, I couldn't." Julie said as she sobbed, she didn't know what else to say, he was already angry, she said didn't want to say anything that would add to that.

"I've gotta get out of here." Tim said and turned to walk away from her and toward the front door.

"Tim..." Julie called out after him, but it was too late. She heard the door close loudly, the rumbling sound of his truck starting up, and then she heard the truck speeding down the street. To where? She wished she knew.

"What happened to Tim?" Jamie asked when Julie returned into the living room after regaining her composer.

"He had to leave." Julie said, her voice hoarse from her crying.

"Will he be back?" Jamie asked.

"I don't think so bud."

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"Where'd Tim go?" Sally asked later in the day when she and her husband got back.

"Oh, he uh, had to go into work." Julie lied.

"Oh, well that's too bad. You'll have to bring him again sometime, Jamie had a blast." Sally said with a bright smile.

"Do you think you could give me a ride home?" Julie asked changing the subject, if she talked about Tim any longer she was going to start sobbing again.

"Sure sweetie."

Well, the cat's out of the bag now, at least for Tim anyway. Mr. and Mrs. Coach still don't know, but they will soon enough. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter; sorry it took me so long to get it done. I want to make this story enjoyable for everyone, so I'd really love to know your thoughts on this chapter, and what you would like to see happen next. As always please follow, favorite, and review


	3. Chapter 3

Unexpected Changes  
Chapter 3: What Are We Gonna Do?

Author's Note: I know it has been forever since I've updated either of my stories and I'm sorry for that; I just have had a lack of interest in writing lately… but I'm back! Also, I wrote half of this story after a posted chapter 2 and the other half a little over a week ago so I'm sorry if there seems to be a "flow" issue. That being said, hopefully you all enjoy this chapter. Sorry if the characters seem a bit out of character, I needed them to be that way in order for this to work how I wanted.

Tim had managed to avoid Julie for the rest of the weekend and even Monday at school. He avoided going down the hall where her locker was, he went a different way to class when he knew they would cross paths, and he left school for lunch. He knew it wasn't right to ignore her, but he wasn't ready to deal with everything just yet. He even skipped practice to avoid seeing her and her dad. He knew he would get hell for it later, but he just couldn't look his coach in the eyes without feeling guilt wash all over him.

"Hey, little brother." Billy smiled when Tim walked through the front door of their house. "What are you doing home so early? Don't you have practice?" Billy asked with a confused looked on his face as he looked at Tim from his spot on the couch.

"Yeah," Tim said, "I just wasn't feeling it today though." He added with a long sigh as he plopped down on the couch next to his brother.

"Anything you wanna talk about?" Billy asked, turning off the TV and giving his little brother his full attention.

"Not really." Tim said. "At least not right now, I'm still trying to figure it out myself."

"Well maybe I can help you figure it out, sometimes just having someone to listen can be helpful." Billy said turning his body toward Tim.

"Who told you that? Mindy?" Tim asked. He loved Mindy and everything, but she - much like the rest of the Colette family - had a knack for sticking her nose in other people's business.

"Maybe." Billy said sheepishly, ever since he and Mindy started dating he decided to take some of her advice on how to take care of Tim, and usually Tim knew and would call him out on it.

"Alright, well, there's this girl-"

"Don't tell me you cheated on Julie." Billy interrupted, sounding disappointed in his little brother.

"No, it's nothing like that." Tim said quickly, disgusted with the idea.

"Good, 'cause that'd be the biggest mistake you could make."

"Not the biggest." Tim said quietly and looked down at his hands for a long moment.

"What do you mean?" Billy asked.

"Like I was saying, there's this girl at our school, and she's pregnant." Tim said and paused to let his brother soak in the information, hoping he didn't asked details on names, because he really couldn't make up any off the top of his head.

"Okay." Billy said, nodding. "What does this have to do with you?" He asked.

"Well, I know the guy that got her pregnant." Tim added and took a moment to figure out a way to rephrase the next part. "And he's freaking out about it. He's avoidin' talking the girl and he doesn't really know what to do."

"Well, I say he's gotta man up and talk to her. I mean, I'm sure she's freakin' out too." Billy said reasonably.

"Yeah, but she kept it from him for a while, and he was pretty upset about that." Tim said trying to defend himself, but he knew he was being a chump by not talking to her. "He had a right to be mad, right?" Tim asked, hoping he didn't sound too interested.

"Yeah, I guess he did, but still, he found out his girlfriend or whatever she is, is pregnant. He's gotta be a man about that. I mean look at dad, the guy's a son of a bitch, but when mom got pregnant with me in high school he stepped up and married her." Billy said.

Tim looked back down and his hands again. He felt like a real fucking asshole. I mean, if his abusive, drunken, deadbeat of a father could step up and do the right thing, why couldn't he?

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"He's ignoring me." Julie said with a sigh as she plopped down on the couch next to Tyra. "And I know I need to give him some space. It's just… It's really hard. I mean there are so many decisions to make and it's something we need to do together. You know?" Julie said with a sniff as she tried not to let her tears fall. All she had been doing since she found out was cry and she was tired of it. There's nothing she can do about the fact that she's pregnant, so there's no point wasting anymore tears on the situation.

"I get it, Jules. I really do, but I think he just needs some time to process this. I know that's not really what you wanna hear right now, but you know he, just like you, found out some huge news, and you gotta think about that. I mean, it took you almost a whole week to finally work up the nerve to tell him. And this is something that's gonna change both your lives dramatically, no matter what you decide to do, so he's probably just as scared as you are." Tyra said and reached over to grab Julie's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "And you know Tim; he's never been very good with change." Tyra added.

"Yeah, that's true." Julie said with a sad chuckle. I mean, this is the same guy that flat out refused to see his best friend after he got paralyzed, even though most of why he wouldn't see Jason was guilt. Guilt over the fact that there was nothing he could do to prevent Jason from ending up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. 'Maybe that's what's going on now.' Julie thought, 'Maybe he feels guilty, like it's his fault I got pregnant. Or maybe he thinks it's my fault and that's why he was so angry.'

"Julie," Tyra said giving Julie's hand another squeeze. "Stop over thinking it." Tyra said gently, not wanting to upset her friend even more.

"But, what if he's mad at me for getting pregnant?" Julie asked, her voice breaking slightly, but she still wouldn't let herself cry again.

"Hun, it's not your fault. It's not like you tried to get pregnant. And it's not his fault either, which I'm sure he's thinking it is right now. It could have happened to anyone, it just turned out to have happened to you guys." Tyra said and hoped Julie found it reassuring.

"I should go talk to him." Julie said. She needed to do something, this waiting was killing her.

"I know it's not my place to say anything, but I really don't think that's a good idea right now Jules." Tyra said. "He's probably not in the right mindset to have a conversation like this right now. He could say something he doesn't mean. I just, I don't want you to get hurt." Tyra said.

"I don't know what to do, T. I have to do something, waiting around for him to figure this out is tearing me up." Julie said with a huff of frustration as she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"I know hun. Look, why don't you stay here tonight. Tell your parents we're working on a project or something. We can have a girl's night. We can go to the store and rent some movies, and eat our weight in ice cream." Tyra said as she wrapped Julie up in a bear hug. "How does that sound?" Tyra asked, only pulling away from the hug enough to look Julie in the eyes.

"That sounds nice." Julie said with a small laugh and hugged Tyra back. "Thank you for being such a supportive friend, T. A lot of other people would have just turned their noses up." Julie said before releasing Tyra from the hug.

"Well, there'll be no turning up of noses in this house, trust me nobody here has any room to judge." Tyra said with a small chuckle as she placed a hand on Julie's shoulder. "Now let's go get us some movies."

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Tim sat in his room, with a beer in his hand, thinking the day over. He felt like an asshole, he hated ignoring Julie, but he just couldn't talk to her right now. Part of him just wanted to see her, to tell her he was sorry and that everything would be okay, but there was another part of him that was still angry at her for not telling him. Tim was released from his thoughts by a knock on his door.

"Yeah." Tim called out, his voice raspy from his silent tears.

"Dinner's ready, and before you say anything, I didn't make it. Mindy did, so you know it'll be good." Billy said from behind the closed door.

"Alright, I'll be out in a second." Tim said and rubbed his hands over him face. 'I can't go to school tomorrow, I can't see her, and I sure as hell can't see her parents.' He thought with a frown as he got out of his bed and walked toward the door.

"Oh god, her parents." He mumbled.

Tim had managed to avoid them today too, but not before Tami practically ambushed him in the hall and asked where he was on Sunday.

Since he and Julie had "made it official" and came out to her parents about their relationship, they had dinner together every Sunday night. It started off as a way to interrogate him, but when Mr. and Mrs. Taylor finally realized he was committed to the relationship, it started being a friendly thing. They would all sit down and talk about their weeks, and later they would watch a movie, neither of the parents protesting, like they normally did, when Tim and Julie decided to cuddle up on the couch. Tim gave her an excuse about having to work on a paper that night and hightailed it to class, and that was the only time he saw her.

He ditched practice so he wouldn't have to look Coach Taylor in the eyes. If he did he knew he would have broken down. He looked up to Eric and they built a father-son type of relationship over the month he lived with the Taylors. Tim knew that the second Eric found out, that relationship would be over, he wouldn't be called "son" anymore when he came for dinner, he'd be "that punk that got our baby pregnant," he just knew it.

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Julie and Tyra were half way through the second movie when Mindy walked through the door.

"Hey Minds, what's up?" Tyra asked as she looked up from the movie.

"Nothing much, just got back from Billy's, I made him and Tim dinner." Mindy said with a smile, knowing that her boyfriend and his little brother wouldn't go without a decent meal that night. "What are y'all watching?" Mindy asked as she sat down in the recliner chair next to the couch Tyra and Julie were occupying.

"Dude, Where's my car?" Julie said as Tyra laughed.

"Ugh, you couldn't have picked something more girly?" Mindy asked with a groan at idea of watching a movie about two stupid potheads.

"We weren't really looking for something girly." Tyra said. "We wanted mindless movies that would leave you laughing so hard you peed a little." Tyra said sending a smirk her sister's way.

"Gross." Mindy said as she scrunched her face up. "What's with the need for funny?" She then asked. Tyra looked over at Julie, silently asking if it was ok to tell.

"Go ahead, I'm sure she knows anyway. I mean, she is Billy's girlfriend." Julie said as she took a deep breath. 'That makes 4; Tim, Tyra, Billy, and Mindy.'' she thought thinking of all the people that knew. 'I really gotta tell my parents soon.'

"Julie's pregnant." Tyra said for Julie as she stuffed her face full of popcorn.

"Oh my god! You're the one that's pregnant?" Mindy asked her eyes as big as saucers as she looked at Julie.

"You didn't know?" Julie asked looking back at Mindy with her own set of wide eyes.

"No, I mean Tim told Billy there was a girl at his school that was pregnant, and Billy told me, but neither of us had any idea it was you." Mindy said. "Oh Julie, what are you gonna do, honey?" Mindy asked as she got up from the recliner and wedged herself between the two girls. She wrapped an arm around Julie and pulled her in for a small hug.

"I don't know, I'm waiting for Tim to adjust to the news before I make any decisions. We need to make them together." Julie said with relief, because for the first time, she was able to talk about the situation without wanting to cry.

"He'll come around, I know it. He just, he needs to clear his head." Mindy said giving Julie's shoulder a squeeze before she got up and made her way back to the recliner.

"I can assume you know not mention this to Billy?" Tyra said in a threatening tone

"Oh yeah, don't worry, I have no problem hiding stuff. It's Billy that spills all the beans." Mindy said with a laugh.

"Well, that's good, I think." Julie said.

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It was Thursday, and Tim and Julie still haven't spoken to each other. Julie was so upset she was about ready to walk up to him, slap him across the face, and force him to tell her what's going through his head. She was on her way to her last period class when she saw him. He glanced up at her briefly then quickly averted his gaze back to his teammates.

"The bell hasn't even rung yet." Julie heard someone say.

"I know, but my class is on the other side of the school, I gotta go now, or I won't make it." She heard another boy reply followed by the sound of heavy footsteps indicating he was running. Julie quickly moved closer to the lockers so she wasn't in his way, but she hadn't realized he had already moved to avoid her. The freshman moved left to avoid hitting her but didn't move over enough, causing his shoulder crash into Julie's, and with quite a bit of force.

Julie threw her books down and quickly placed her hands out to brace her fall; her palms hit the tile floor with a loud smack, followed by her knees. Unable to hold it in, Julie let out a little cry of pain. However, the boy was much luckier than her and only stumbled a bit.

Tim heard the noise and looked over to see Julie on the floor and the boy regaining his balance. He felt a wave a rage run through him at the thought of this guy hurting his Julie, Tim rushed over and grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt. The hallway got quiet as almost every pair of eyes looked over to take in the scene.

"Watch where you're going next time, dumbass. She's -"

"Tim!" Julie shouted, quickly cutting him off before he said something stupid.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident, I-I didn't mean to knock her over." The boy nervously said.

Tim gave the freshman a death glare before he let go of his shirt and rushed to Julie's side to help her up. The boy continued his run to class, just in case Tim decided he wasn't through with him yet.

"Are you okay?" He asked once she was on her feet. All eyes still on them.

"I'm fine." Julie said and looked down at her shoes. Her hands and knees were killing her actually, but she didn't land on her stomach, so she took that as being okay. She grabbed her books off the floor just in time for the bell to ring. Everyone stopped staring and went their separate ways as they headed towards their repective classes. Julie turned to leave but Tim gently grabbed her wrist and turned her back around.

"It's time." Tim said looking at Julie.

"Time?" Julie asked confused, but then she saw the look in his eyes and nodded. He was right, it was time.

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Tim led Julie out to his truck and drove down a dirt road to a place they both knew all too well. The cliffs. Tim drove up to the edge and put the truck in park.

The two sat in silence for several minutes, sneaking glances at each other once in a while, neither knowing where to start.

"So..." Julie trailed off. She was just as clueless as Tim on where to start this conversation, but they both knew it had to happen. The question was, who would be willing to bite the bullet and start it?

"I'm sorry." Tim whispered so quietly Julie almost didn't hear him.

"For what?" Julie asked, she had an idea, but she wanted to hear him say it. She had to see if she was right.

"For everything." Tim said before letting out a deep sigh and continuing. "For ignoring you the past week, for bailing on you during babysitting... for getting us into this mess." Tim said, saying the last part a bit more quietly.

"Tim, this is not your fault, it could of happened to anyone." Julie said looking him in the eyes. She needed him to know she didn't blame him, and that he shouldn't blame himself either, it takes two to make a baby, after all. "And as for the other stuff, I was mad, but I get it. You needed time to think, I did the same thing to you when I found out." She added.

"What about your parents?" Tim asked changing the subject. Thinking of the way he'd treated Julie by ignoring her for the past week by made him sick, and he knew he shouldn't blame himself, but he couldn't help it. That's just who he was.

"I think I should see a doctor before I tell them, just to make absolute sure it's true, and to get an idea of how far along I am." Julie said looking away from Tim and down at her shoes, an old nervous habit she just couldn't seem to break.

"It'll be okay, Jules. I wanna be there for it, you shouldn't have to do this alone." Tim said as he grabbed her hand, causing her to look back up at him, he kissed the back of her hand when he saw the glistening tears start to form in her big, beautiful brown eyes.

"They're gonna be really upset." Julie said her eyes filling up with tears at the idea of seeing the look of disappointment she knew would be on her parents' face.

"Then I'll be there with you; I'll be a hand to hold, or a shoulder to cry on, hell I'll even do all the talking if that's what you want." Tim said and Julie let out a small laugh at the idea. She just couldn't picture it, Tim's never been much of a talker, especially when it comes to serious conversations.

"Okay, then I guess the first step is seeing a doctor." Julie said with a sigh, glad that they had at least some sort of a plan. They still had some very big decisions to make, but they also still had time to make those decisions.

Well that's it for now. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know your thoughts and if you have any suggestions about what you'd like to see in the upcoming chapters. As always review, follow, and favorite!


	4. Chapter 4

I'm so sorry for taking so long to update. I've just been so busy with school. Who ever said that your senior year would be easy was a damn liar. Either that or they weren't doing cheer while also working part time and taking an AP English class. Between that class and scholarships, I've been averaging about four to five essays a week so finding the time or motivation to write this story has been almost none existent, thankfully I found some time to write over Christmas break. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Unexpected Changes

Chapter 4: Everything Will Be Fine.

"Are you ready?" Tim asked, giving Julie's hand a reassuring squeeze. They both looked up at the Women's Health sign, today Julie had an appointment to see how far along she was in her pregnancy.

"No, what if we see someone we know?" Julie asked as she looked up at Tim with wide eyes. Unfortunately, they couldn't get an appointment in Arnett Mead or Laribee for another three weeks. Neither Julie nor Tim wanted to wait that long, so they booked an appointment at the women's health clinic here in Dillon, but neither were very happy about it.

"It's Sunday morning, everyone we know is in church right now," Tim said in a reassuring tone. Julie wasn't buying it, though.

"Just because we don't know them, doesn't mean they won't know us, or, at least, you, Mr. Star Fullback." Julie said teasingly.

"Well, the way I see it, it's either this or wait three weeks and go to Arnett Mead or Laribee. Now, I don't know 'bout you, but I definitely can't wait that long. Who knows, by then you might even be starting to show a little." Tim said. That seemed to be the deciding factor for Julie because she squeezed his hand for dear life and headed into the clinic.

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Tim looked up at the clock for what felt like the millionth time. Julie insisted on being there ten minutes early because she, unlike Tim, who didn't care, hated being late. But as Tim looked down at Julie he knew she regretted her decision to come earlier. Her hands kept fidgeting as she looked around the room. She would look at the posters on the walls, to the other women across from her that were clearly quite far in their pregnancies, to the clock, and down to her hands. Then, when the cycle was complete, she'd do it all over again. Tim grabbed her small hands in his much larger one causing her to look up at him.

"Everything's gonna be alright Jules. I promise I'm gonna be here every step of the way, no matter what happens, we'll face it together." Tim said as he held Julie's small hand in his. Julie gave him a smile, the first one he's seen from her in weeks, and it made his heart ache.

"You have no idea how much I needed to hear that right now." She said as she laid her head on his shoulder and played with his hand, running a finger along all his callouses before lacing their fingers together.

"Julie Taylor." A women dressed in scrubs called out. She was tall and skinny, with medium length dark brown hair. She didn't seem to recognize Julie or Tim when they stood up, which came as a relief to both of them.

"I'm so sorry about the wait. We've been short staffed all week and today's been surprisingly busy." The women said as she walked them down a hallway and into one of the rooms at the very end of the hallway. "Just make yourselves comfortable and a nurse should be right with you."

"Thank you." Tim and Julie said in unison before she closed the door and they were once again left waiting.

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"Hello, my name is Corina Williams and-" Mrs. Williams stopped speaking once she looked up and saw who in the room. "Tim? Julie? What're y'all doing here? Shouldn't you be in church right now?" She asked confused. She must not have gotten enough sleep. There's no way these two kids could be here for a prenatal checkup.

"I guess the same could be said for you, Mrs. Williams." Tim spoke up somewhat defensively. He loved Smash's mom, but he didn't want her making Julie feel more uncomfortable than she already did. Mrs. Williams looked shocked to see them there, but not nearly as shocked at Julie, who was hoping to avoid running into anyone they would know.

"We've been short staffed, and it's double the pay on Sunday." Mrs. Williams explained although she wasn't sure way, she had no reason to defend herself. "Ok Julie, since this is your first checkup there are several tests that need to be done. We'll start with the simple ones, first I'll need to weigh you, check your blood pressure, you'll need to have a pelvic exam, and a Pap smear, and then I'll have to get a urine and blood sample, after that we can do an ultrasound if all comes back positive." Mrs. Williams said, she needed to be professional for now. If they wanted to talk to her about all that was going on, she would have open, nonjudgmental, ears, but until then she was going to do her best to keep her nose out of it.

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"Well, you're definitely pregnant, sweetie, and based on the information given I'd say you're about six weeks along." Mrs. Williams said as she entered the room again after leaving to run tests on the urine sample. "At this stage, it's very normal to have breast tenderness, fatigue, nausea, even bloating. Have you been experiencing any of these symptoms?" She asked. Julie nodded as she felt her tears building up. She felt like she had finally accepted the fact that she was pregnant, but there was always that little voice telling her it could all just be a mistake. Having it confirmed by Mrs. Williams just made it that much more real. There was no hiding from it now.

"All accept the bloating and nausea." Julie said as she wiped her tears. Corina's heart ached for the couple; they were so young,_ too_ young to be worrying about having a child. She decided to be professional earlier, but looking at Julie as she shed silent tears, and at Tim who looked just as broken up as he tried to comfort his girlfriend, she knew that being professional was not what these two needed right now.

"I know this probably seems like it couldn't have happened at a more inconvenient time; but you just have to remember that sometimes God challenges us in the most unexpected ways to test our strength, our courage, and our willingness to change." Mrs. Williams said as she stood on the other side of Julie, across from Tim, and rubbed soft, soothing circles on her back.

"Thank you, Mrs. Williams." Julie said as she wiped away the last of her tears. Tim nodded at Corina and mouthed thank you as well before going back to rubbing Julie's back.

"This is a prescription for your prenatal vitamins." Mrs. Williams said as she handed Julie a small piece of paper. "At this stage it's a bit too early to see anything other than the gestational sac, so you will need to come in again in two to three weeks for a sonogram. In the meantime, just make sure that you are eating a right, and that you are getting enough sleep. And don't stress too much, it's bad for the baby." Corina said with a small smile.

"Thank you again, Mrs. Williams." Tim and Julie said as they walked towards the door together.

"No problem. If either of you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me." She said.

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Corina walked into her home later that day to the smell of food being cooked. She walked into the kitchen to find Smash and her oldest daughter, Noannie, making dinner. "What's this?" She asked with a small smile, walking up to Smash to peer into the pan as he stirred.

"Well, we know how hard you've been working lately, so we decided that we would make the dinner tonight." Smash said as he gave him mom a kiss on the cheek when he noticed she was standing beside him.

"Unfortunately, neither of us really know how to cook anything, so we went with the classic spaghetti and meatball." Noannie said from her spot near the counter where she was tossing some salad to have as a side.

"It's almost ready; we're just waiting for the pasta to be done. Sit down and relax' mama." Smash said giving Corina a gentle nudge toward the kitchen table that had already been set for dinner.

"Well, if you insist," Corina said with a light laugh as she sat down at the table. A few minutes later Smash and Noannie placed the salad, spaghetti sauce and noodles on the table. Smash sat down while Noannie left to let their little sister know dinner was ready. Corina looked at Smash as he filled his plate with food. "Have you spoken with Tim lately?" She asked before she could stop herself.

"No, Tim's been kind of . . . occupied." Smash said vaguely as he took his first bite of pasta, surprised with himself at how good it turned out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Corina asked eyeing her son suspiciously. Corina stared at him hard as she awaited an answer. "Brain," She said firmly when he hadn't answered.

"I really shouldn't say anything mama; it's not my place." Smash said as he looked up from his plate. He gave his mother a desperate look, almost pleading her to stop asking questions.

"Oh my goodness, you know don't you?" She asked when she saw the look her son gave her. Smash gave her a confused look.

"How the hell do you know? Oh god, you didn't hear it from someone did you? They don't want it going around."

"Language Brian!" Corina scolded. "And no I didn't hear it from anybody, they came into Planned Parenthood for a prenatal checkup. How do you know about it?" She asked. Smash looked thoughtful for a moment as he thought back on the day Tim told him a few weeks ago.

*FLASHBACK*

Smash walked into the field house Saturday afternoon to see Tim at the bench press furiously lifting. It seemed Tim had the same idea as Smash to get in a quick workout. "What's up man?" Smash asked as he walked over to time who had just finished his last rep.

"Nothing, just getting a workout in. What about you?" Tim asked. He had a tone Smash didn't recognize; he thought it was anger at first, but Tim's been pissed at Smash enough times to know that this was something different.

"Same, you sure that's all man, you seem kinda, I don't know, edgy." Smash said awkwardly.

"I'm fine." Tim said firmly as he left the bench press, set his desired weights on the barbell and began his standing shoulder press sets.

"If you say so." Smash said dropping the subject and laid down on the now vacated bench press to begin his workout.

"Julie's pregnant." Tim said after he finished his third set on the shoulder press. Smash nearly dropped the barbell on his chest at Tim's words. He placed the barbell on its stand and looked over at Tim.

"What?" Was all he could manage to get out. "Pregnant? Like bun in the oven?" Smash asked the shock evident in his voice.

"Only kinda pregnant there is." Tim said sarcastically.

"When'd you find that out?" Smash asked, it must have been a recent thing, if it weren't it probably would've been all over the school already.

"About an hour ago." Tim answered as he looked up at the clock by the door.

"Damn man, what are you guys gonna do?" Smash asked.

"I have no clue, man," Tim said as he plopped down on one of the weight benches with his head in his hands. "I just walked out when she told me. She's probably pissed." He said.

"Nah, man she's probably feeling the same way you are."

"Scared shitless?" Tim asked causing Smash to chuckle.

"Yeah, among other things, you gotta remember she's the one stuck holding that baby inside of her, and if she's anything like my mama when she was pregnant, then she's feeling pretty damn emotional. Only difference is my mama was a grown woman when she found out she was pregnant, so I guess you can multiply whatever Julie's feeling by a hundred." Smash said. Tim looked up at him with confusion.

"You know you're pretty good at this "making people understand" thing. Which is kinda of surprising considering you can be a real cocky ass." Tim said with a small smile as he looked up at Smash.

"Hey, "the Smash" has feelings too, you know." Smash said as he feigned hurt at Tim's word. Tim laughed at Smash's antics.

"You know if you tell anyone, I'll end you, right?"

"Oh, I have no doubt in my mind. Don't worry your secret's safe with me. Smash said as he patted Tim on the back and left the field house to give Tim some time to himself to think.

*END FLASHBACK*

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"Ugh, stupid jeans!" Julie mumbled out in frustration as she tried, without success, to button up her jeans.

"What's wrong, baby?" Tim asked as he entered the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair dripping beads of water onto his bare shoulders.

"My damn jeans don't fit anymore!" Julie whined as she tried once again to get the jeans to button up. "And I don't have any stretchy clothes here." She added.

"Alright, we can fix this, it's nothing to freak out about," Tim said calmly as he put a t-shirt on over his slightly damp chest and pulled on a pair of jeans. "Do you have one of those uh... those hair things?" Tim asked, holding his hair back into a ponytail to demonstrate what he was asking for.

"Yeah, I don't see how that's gonna help, though." Julie said as she walked over to the nightstand, picked up the hair tie she placed there for when she stayed over and handed it over to Tim.

"When my mom was pregnant with Billy, she and my dad couldn't afford to buy new clothes when she started getting bigger, so they had to improvise a little." Tim said as he knelt down next to Julie, he pulled the hair tie into the button hole of Julie's jeans, wrapped it around the button twice, and tied it around the button hole to make sure it was secure. "Good as new," Tim said giving Julie's bottom a light tap as he got up.

"How did you know how to do that, though?" Julie asked.

"I was probably six or seven when my dad had gotten laid-off, so money was pretty tight with just my mom's paycheck. I guess I must've been going through a growth spurt because she taught me that trick so she could wait until she got paid to buy me a new pair of jeans." Tim said with a sigh; that's when things really started to get bad for his family. His dad wasn't able to get another job, so he started wasting all of his mom's paychecks on booze, and he wasn't a very pleasant drunk. Eventually, his mom got fed up with all his stealing, lying, and abuse, so she left . . . She left a sixteen-year-old Billy and a seven-year-old Tim with their drunk of a father, where almost every night they had to protect themselves from Walt's violent alcohol-induced outbursts, until eventually Walt got sick of them and left Dillon too, just like their mom.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Tim. I shouldn't have brought it up." Julie said guiltily as she looked about at her feet.

"It's okay, it's not your fault, not like you knew about it either." Tim said softly.

"I know, I just . . . I know how much you hate talking about your parents." Julie said so quietly Tim almost didn't hear it. He sighed as he pulled her into a tight embrace.

"It fine, Jules, I know I've blown up at you before for trying to bring them up and I'm sorry about that, but I'm never gonna do that again. It's about time I got over the anger I feel towards them, 'specially now." Tim said as he let go of Julie. "I think we should tell your parents Jules, they're gonna notice soon enough seeing as how most of your clothes are starting to get smaller, might as well bite the bullet and get it over with before they find out the hard way."

"I know, you're right, I've avoided it long enough. We should tell them Friday after the game. If you guys win that should put my dad in a good mood, maybe it'll soften the blow a bit."

"Yeah maybe." Tim said, although he knew that was doubtful, he just prayed that his coach wasn't going to castrate him once he found out the news.

So next chapter will be mainly about the Taylor's and their reactions to the news. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I know there weren't really that many "Tulie" moments, but I just wanted to cover the bases of Mrs. Williams finding out, along with Smash. I hope you guys enjoyed reading this chapter and don't forget to review, follow, and favorite. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and what you would like to see in the next so shoot me a quick review or PM letting me know.


	5. Chapter 5

Unexpected Changes

Chapter 5: This Is Never Gonna Work

Julie sat up all night, unable to sleep as she pondered every scenario of what could happen when she tells her parents about the pregnancy. Each ended with her in tears and her parents screaming at her and Tim for being so irresponsible. Well, all except one, in that one her mother was also in tears as her father did all the yelling. She had a feeling the latter was more likely to occur.

"Julie, honey, it's time to wake up." Tami called from her spot on the outside of Julie's room. Julie muttered a quick "I'm up," before walking towards her closet to find something to wear. What does one wear on the day you and your boyfriend tell your parents that you're knocked up? Julie shook her head at the thought.

"I doubt they'll be judging your outfit choices." She found herself mumbling aloud.

She looked through her closest before deciding to go with the most comfortable thing she could find; a pair of yoga pants, an oversized Dillion Panthers' hoodie – most likely Tim's – and her favorite pair Chuck Taylor's. She threw her hair up into a loose ponytail and looked at herself in the mirror. She had dark circles under her eyes caused from only getting about an hour of sleep, and her face looked pale, which wasn't surprising considering how everything seemed to be making her nauseous lately. She quickly applied some concealer under her eyes in an attempt to cover her dark circles, along with some mascara, and her favorite lip gloss. When she was convinced that she no longer looked like the walking dead, she left her room and headed toward the kitchen, where her dad was making breakfast.

"Morning, sweetie, breakfast will be done any minute; just waiting on the bacon." Eric said as he sent a smile in his daughter's direction. Julie smiled back although it looked more like a grimace as the smell of the bacon made its way to her nose. She said some form of a morning greeting before quickly excusing herself to the bathroom. She turned on the facet at the sink and played some music from her phone in an attempt to cover up the sounds of her dry heaving.

"What's wrong with her?" Eric asked in confusion as he looked in the direction Julie had left.

"I'm not sure," Tami said as she eyed the bathroom door suspiciously from her spot in the kitchen. "But, I intend to find out." She added as she walked towards her bedroom.

"Care to elaborate?" Eric called out after her as he removed the bacon from the stove and put in on a paper towel covered plate.

"Later, right now I have to get ready." Tami said as she closed the door to their bedroom so she could change.

Eric shook his head, feeling like he was missing something. "I swear; I'll never understand these women." Eric said as he shook his head, once again, while he quickly ate his breakfast. He looked at the clock his eyes widening when he saw the time, there was a meeting at the school in ten minutes that all the coaches needed to be at, and seeing as how he was the Athletic Director, he definitely needed to be there. He finished his breakfast and quickly rinsed off his plate, placing it in the drying rack. He called out a quick goodbye to Tami and Julie saying he would see them at the game later and quickly rushed out the door.

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Julie knocked on her parents' bedroom door after she was sure her father had left.

"Come on in, sweetie." Came her mom's soft voice through the door.

Julie's hands shook as she tentatively opened the door. Tami was sitting on the edge of the bed with her shoes in front of her. Julie sat down next to her mom on the bed and took a deep breath as she tried to gather her thoughts.

"I'm almost ready, I just have to finish putting my shoes on and find out where I put my dang purse." Tami said as she reached down to put on her other shoe.

"Your purse is in the living room." Julie said nonchalantly as she watched her mom put on her shoe. "And no need to rush," She added. "School doesn't start for another half hour."

"Okay." Tami said as she finally looked over at her daughter. She scrunched up her face in confusion as she took in Julie's appearance; once again her daughter was sporting some serious dark circles, even though it was clear she tried to cover it up as much as she could, Tami could still see right through it. Then she glanced down at her outfit, she wore a ridiculously oversized Dillon Panthers sweatshirt that she could only assume belong to Tim, a pair of yoga pants, and her usual pair of beat up old converse shoes. "Um, you wanna get dressed, sweetie?" Tami asked in the nicest tone she could.

"I am dressed." Julie said.

"Julie. . ." Tami paused for a moment as she debated on whether or not to even ask her daughter any questions, knowing it was unlikely she wouldn't get an answer. "Honey, are you okay?" She found herself asking anyway. Tami watched Julie as she took in a sharp intake of breath and then she noticed the tears that had started to form in her eyes as she frantically shook her head back and forth.

"No." Julie chocked out over a sob. Tami's heart broke at the look on Julie's face as she continued to sob mumbling out incoherent words as she did.

"Oh, sweetie, what's wrong?" Tami asked, her chest tightening with worry, as she stared at her crying daughter. Julie just shook her head again as more sobs continued to escape her mouth, each one seemingly louder than the next. Tami quickly stretched her arms out to her daughter and embraced her in a tight bear hug, feeling her eyes start to swell up with tears as she felt Julie's body shake, her sobs muffled by Tami's shoulder.

"Julie, you have to talk to me." Tami said, her voice shaking as she did so. "I have no way of knowing what's going on if you don't talk to me, honey." She said as she pulled away from Julie just enough to look her in the eyes.

Julie nodded at her mom as she wiped the back of her hand under her eyes to rid her face of the tears. She could do this. She could tell her. Julie looked up at her mother through slightly puffy eyes. "I'm pregnant." Julie said, well more like whispered, anyway. Tami stared at her daughter with a look that Julie could only describe as pure confusion.

"How?" She asked, almost as soon as the word left her mouth, Tami's eyes widened, almost comically. "Oh god, don't answer that." She said quickly.

A long moment of silence went by as Tami stared at Julie like she had grown another head and Julie attempted to stare anywhere else but at her mother. Tami had so many questions running through her head, but she had no idea which one to ask first. She decided to put on her counselor hat and start with the basics.

"Does Tim know?" She asked. Is that why he's been avoiding her and Eric like the plague? And why he hasn't been around lately? The more that Tami thought about it, the more it was all starting to make sense. Julie wearing her baggiest clothes, leaving suddenly from the table during almost any meal, going to sleep as early as seven o' clock and still being dog tired come morning, not to mention she's been quite snappy over the smallest of things.

"Yeah, he's known for a while now." Julie said, continuing to avoid her mom's burning stare.

"Well, how long is a while? How far along are you?" Tami asked. How long had she known about this?

"I'll be ten weeks this Tuesday." Julie said softly as she looked up at her mom for the first time and winced at the look of betrayal that crossed her face.

"Ten weeks?" Tami exclaimed as she looked at her daughter. "You should have told me, Julie. Have you seen a doctor? Are you taking any sort of prenatal vitamins? Have you had your first ultrasound, yet?" Tami found herself asking.

"I've seen a doctor, well, sort of. I had a prenatal checkup done a few weeks ago and they prescribed me vitamins, so yes, I have been taking them. I haven't had an ultrasound yet, but I have an appointment set up for one on Wednesday." Julie said.

"I wish you would have told me. I could have helped you, sweetheart, if you'd just told me what was going on sooner." Tami said suddenly as so many different emotions flew through her.

"I know, mom. I'm sorry. I-I was just so scared; I didn't know how you would react. I was worried you would h-hate me." Julie said as tears once again filled her eyes and started to shed down her face.

"I could never hate you." Tami said as she hugged her daughter again, letting her own tears fall for the first time since this conversation started. "I'm just upset that you didn't tell me, that you had to go through this alone." Tami said as she ran a soothing hand up and down Julie's back.

"Mom, I'm so scared." Julie said through a sob.

"I know, sweetie, I know."

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Tami decided to let Julie stay home and try to get a few hours of sleep. She told her to come later, only if she felt up to it, so she left her the car and got a ride from a coworker. Which, in hindsight, wasn't the best idea seeing as she spent the fifteen-minute drive dodging questions as to why she was allowing her daughter to stay home. She just went with the classic "she wasn't feeling well" and left it at that.

Once Tami got to the school, she did anything and everything she could think of to keep busy, from organizing all her student files to remaking the coffee in the staff lounge about half a dozen times. She started calling in seniors to ask about their future plans just to keep her mind occupied. She quickly made her way down the list and frowned at the next name. Tim Riggins. Was she ready to speak to him yet? Although, the shock still hadn't worn off, she was starting to feel the disappointment settle in towards both Tim and Julie; however, she knew that as a counselor, and also Julie's mother, it would be best for her to get an idea about how Tim is feeling about everything going on.

She shook her head and finally asked the school secretary to call Tim in and anxiously waited until she heard a light knock on her door. She looked up from Tim's file when the secretary led Tim into the office.

"Hi Tim, have a seat, please." Tami said gesturing to the two chair across from her desk. Tim nodded and sat down in one of the seats.

"What's going on Mrs. T?" Tim asked running his hands up and down his thighs, almost as if he was trying to wipe to wipe sweat off them. Which, Tami guessed, he probably was.

"Well, I've been calling in all of the seniors to ask what their plans are for the future. You know, occupational interests, college, if they need help applying for scholarships, or financial aid; the basics." Tami spoke so casually, you would never know that she'd just found out her daughter was pregnant less than a few hours ago and that the young man sitting in front of her was the one who had gotten her pregnant.

"Oh, right, that makes sense." Tim said. "Honestly, I hadn't really put all that much thought into any of that stuff up until recently." Tim admitted, which was true. When he first started dating Julie, he knew he would want to get some form of an education after high school, even if it was just going to a technical school so he could become a mechanic and, hopefully one day, open up his own shop. Once he found out Julie was pregnant he started looking more into colleges, but the more he thought about, the more conflicted he felt. He didn't want to leave Julie or their baby to go to school. Maybe he could just take a few classes here and there at Dillon Tech and continue working at Buddy's.

"Well what made you decide to start thinking about it?" Tami asked although she had a feeling she already knew exactly what made him start thinking about his future.

"Just stuff. I mean, Jules and I a pretty serious, so I've been thinking about staying here and going to Dillon Tech, at least for my first year, anyway." Tim said. Why, Tim, why? He found himself thinking.

"So you would stay in Dillon, just for a girl? What if you and Julie break up, then what would you do? Do you have a backup plan?" Tami found herself asking as she grew agitated. How could he have virtually no plans for the future when Julie's pregnant? How can he take care of Julie if he has no plans? "How exactly do to you and Julie plan on providing for-" Tami blurted out only to stop when she realized what she was saying.

Tim squinted at her in confusion for a few seconds at her sudden anger, before he caught her last sentence. His eyes grew wide and his throat suddenly felt very, very dry. _Oh shit_. . .

"You know, don't you?" Tim found himself asking.

"Yeah, Julie told me this morning." Tami said quietly as she sadly looked down at the file on her desk.

"Does Coach-" Tim started only to stop short when he remembered he was still here, and breathing, of course he didn't know. His thoughts were confirmed when Tami shook her head.

"No. He doesn't know." She said. "I'm not gonna sit here and pretend I'm happy about this, or act like I'm not disappointed, because I am. However, I understand that accidents happen and that some situations are out of our control. So we'll just have to make the best out of an unfortunate situation." Tami said as she tried to keep her tears at bay.

"Thank you for understanding, Mrs. T. I'm sorry I let you and Coach down." Tim said as he sadly looked down at the ground. Tami sent him a sad smile.

"Tim, I don't blame you, or Julie. I wish y'all had been more careful, but I do understand that sometimes thinks like this just happen, trust me, I understand." Tami said.

Tim nodded and stood up to leave, once he reached the door he heard Tami say his name. He turned around to face her as she spoke.

"Just so you know, if you hurt my daughter, I _will_ make your life a living hell. Understand?" She said so sweetly it sent chills up Tim's spine.

"Yes ma'am, I understand." And with that he left.

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Julie actually managed to get a few hours of sleep, probably because she was so exhausted, but she knew it was time to show her face at school; she and Tim had some very important things to talk about. She showed up to school just a few minutes before lunch, by the time she found her mom and dropped off her keys, the bell had already rung. It didn't take her long to find Tim, thankfully he towered over most of the students around him. Julie snatched him right before he got into the cafeteria.

"We need to talk." Julie said as she led Tim away from the growing crowd trying to get to the cafeteria. Tim merely nodded, already knowing what she wanted to talk about. Mrs. T knew, and Julie told her.

"How 'bout we get lunch at the Alamo Freeze?" Tim asked. He could use a good burger after the day he's had, plus they had that spicy chicken sandwich Julie loved.

"Sounds good." Julie said as she let Tim lead her towards his truck.

The drive was spent in relative silence, both figuring out exactly what they wanted to say and how they wanted to say it. Once they got there, Tim got out and went around the car to help let Julie out. Together they entered the nearly dead restaurant, which was surprising seeing as it was lunch hour, usually this place would be filled with adults and even a few teenagers just trying to get a quick bite to eat before they have to return to work or school. They order and sat down in a booth far away from the counters to ensure they wouldn't be heard.

"I know what you want to talk about." Tim said as he took a seat across from Julie.

"You do?"

"Yeah you told your mom. She talked to me early today during third." Tim said, he was actually kind of grateful she chose that class period to speak to him, she got him out of a chemistry test that he was wildly unprepared for.

"Dammit, Tim, I'm so sorry." Julie started quickly. "I didn't mean for you to find out like that. It's just, I was so tired this morning and I went to go see if she was ready to leave and she asked me if I was okay, and I just broke down. She let me stay home and I wanted to tell you, but I was just so tired. Trust me, if I had known she was gonna talk to you about it I would've gone to school so I could give you a heads up." Julie rambled. She felt so bad! How could she have put Tim in that situation? To go up against her mom when he didn't even know that she knew.

"Jules, it's okay, I get it." Tim said as he looked at her slightly sheepishly. "I actually told Smash when I first found out." Tim admitted and it felt so good to finally tell her after holding it in for over a month now.

"You did?" Julie asked not feeling as guilty.

"Yeah, I mean I was upset, he was there. He listened. He even gave me some pretty good advice too, if you could believe it." Tim said with a small chuckle. Julie laughed softly at the idea of Tim and Smash having a heart to heart. She knew she should probably be angry at him for telling Smash their business — he isn't exactly known for keeping his mouth shut about things — but seeing as the word still hasn't gotten out about her pregnancy it's pretty clear he hasn't let anybody know.

"Look on the bright side, though, my mom already knows, so now we'll just have to tell my dad and pray for the best." Julie said with what she hoped was a small reassuring smile.

"One down, one to go." Tim said sending Julie back his own smile.

"Well actually two . . . we still need to tell Billy." Julie reminded. Tim's face fell, he forgot about Billy. How could he forget about his own brother?

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Julie sat in the stands later that night next to her mom, Tyra, and Billy waiting for the panthers to come back out onto the field. It was halftime now. The Panthers were down by 13 and as much as she hated to admit it, things were not looking good. She bit her nails nervously as she watched the Arnett Mead players take the field. There was only about a minute left before the third quarter and Julie had no doubt in her mind that the panthers were probably getting their asses chewed out by her dad right now. She just hoped that they came out with some sort of newfound energy and won this game. They _needed_ to win this game . . . otherwise she and Tim would be more screwed than they already are.

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Tami looked over at Julie, seeing her engulfed in Tim's hoodie made her look so small and fragile, especially as she stood there biting her thumbnail anxiously — a nervous habit she's had ever since she was a little girl —as she watched Tim's every move. The Panthers were now only down by six, it was the beginning of the fourth quarter, they still had time and Tami felt confident that the Panthers would take home a win tonight.

"Everything will work out, Jules. I can feel it." Tami said as she took ahold of Julie's hand to stop her from biting her nail any longer. Julie gave her mom a small smile as she gently squeezed her hand.

I sure hope so."

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"They did it! The Panthers fought hard and they pulled out that W! It's not over folks, we're still in the game!" Slamming Sammy Mead announced as the whole crowd stood and erupted with cheers.

Everyone quickly abandoned the bleachers and ran out onto the field to go congratulate the players. Julie slowly made her way off of the bleachers, being extra careful not to get in anyone's way, she'd been knocked over a time or two by a proud parents looking for their child and girlfriends looking to kiss their significant others. Once she was safely off of the bleachers and away from the crowd, she glanced around for Tim. She owed him one big display of PDA for that last play, she also owed Smash a hug. She's positive if it were not for those two actually working together for a change this win would have gone to Arnett Mead, without a doubt.

"Looking for someone?" Julie heard behind her. She jumped at the sound not noticing that someone was so close behind her; however, she knew it was Tim, she could recognize his deep voice anywhere.

"Actually yes, I was looking for my boyfriend." Julie said turning around to face Tim. "Maybe you've seen him; he's tall, has these amazing hazel eyes and a rocking body . . . he's on the football team . . . a bit broody." Julie teased while Tim smirked down at her. "Let's see, he's also—" Julie started again but stopped when Tim picked her up and swung her around.

"You played great!" Julie said, slightly out of breath, when Tim finally put her down. Tim looked at the score board and then back to her skeptically. "Seriously you did, the score doesn't matter and y'all still won, so don't give me that look."

"Alright, Jules." Tim said as he smiled down at his girlfriend. He was sure they were gonna lose, but Smash really came through in the end. They won tonight's game and that put them one step closer to the playoffs, granted that was months away, but the idea was still sitting in the back of every player's mind on the team. Tim put those thoughts aside for the time being, though, and leaned down to kiss Julie, this was the first time they'd been able to see each other since lunch earlier and he was having serious withdrawals.

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Tami watched at Tim and Julie chatted and laughed over by the sidelines; they looked so happy, carefree even. She hated the idea of going over there and breaking up the happy moment between the two, but she knew it was time for them to go home and tell Eric the news. It was now or never. Tami walked over to the couple, cautiously.

"Hey, guys, you ready to head home?" Tami asked giving them a knowing look as she nodded her head in Eric's direction. The smiles on their faces fell instantly as they looked over at the man in question, who was currently trapped into a conversation with Buddy Garrity. You could tell that for a second, just one little second, they forgot, and everything seemed to be like it was before. Tami absolutely hated ruining their little moment of oblivion, but she also hated keeping this secret from her husband.

"You two can go together, Eric and I have to get stuff for dinner, anyway." Tami said. "Take a moment and gather your thoughts." Tami said as she left them and returned to where Eric was to save him from the incessantly chatty booster club members. Tonight was the night everything would change. So, for now, she would just enjoy what little bit of normality she could get with her husband.

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So that's the end of Chapter five, it was a longer one than normal (a little over 4k words) to make up for my lack of updating; this chapter showed a little bit of Tami's reaction and thoughts on Julie's pregnancy, the next will show Eric's. I hope to have chapter six out in the next month or so, I don't want to make any promises as my already busy schedule is about go get even more hectic with my first year of college starting soon; that being said, I just wanted to give a HUGE thank you to those of you that continue to read and review this story despite the very sparse updating. It truly means so much to know that you all enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it. So without further ado, thank you all so so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review, follow, and favorite.


	6. Chapter 6

Unexpected Changes

Chapter 6: This is a Joke, Right?

Eric and Tami's drive home was very similar to how it is after every game. Eric would talk about the game, what he liked, what he didn't, which players needed improvement, where things could be strengthened. Usually, Tami told him to leave the football talk for the football field, but today . . . today was different. Tami let him go on with his football talk the entire ride. Eric wasn't complaining, but he couldn't lie. He was more than a little surprised.

"Everything alright, hon?" Eric as once they pulled into the driveway. He parked the car and looked over at his wife expectantly. She nodded and mumbled out a "yeah fine," but her eyes told a different story. "You sure?" he asked.

"Eric everything's fine, I promise." Tami said. Unfortunately, though, she knew everything was not fine, and soon Eric would know it too. She just hoped he wouldn't blow up when he heard the news.

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"Hey, good job tonight, Riggs." Someone said as they patted Tim on the back when he and Julie walked in to pick up their food from the Panther Pit.

"Thanks." Tim muttered in the stranger's direction. He and Julie walked up to the counter to pick up their order, but they were a bit early, one of the waiters told them it would take another few minutes or so before their food was done, so they went on a hunt to find an empty table in the overcrowded restaurant.

"There." Julie said pointing at an empty table towards the window, but before she and Tim could even make a step, another person came up to Tim, only this time it wasn't a happy fan, it was an angry Arnett Mead player.

"Y'all got lucky man, you made that down after the clock and you know it." He said, getting a little too close to him and Julie. Tim wrapped a protective arm around Julie's shoulder and pulled her closer to him. He wasn't looking for a fight; especially not tonight of all nights.

"Whatever you say man." Tim replied and attempted to walk away, Julie attached to his side. The Arnett Mead player wasn't done, yet, however. He grabbed Julie's shoulder and turned her towards him, roughly.

"Fine, since you clearly ain't, maybe your girl will listen to logic." The guy said, but before he could get another word in, Tim clocked him, hard, right on the jaw. The guy fell instantly, despite the size difference between the two boys.

"Don't you ever touch her again; you hear me? Don't try to talk to her, don't look at her, don't even fucking breath in her direction." Tim said, his face red, vision blurred, and hands shaking he was so mad. How dare he touch Julie. Innocent or not, doesn't he know you never touch another man's gal, especially when she's pregnant. Then he remembered, nobody knows that Julie's pregnant, and that probably seemed like an over-the-top reaction for something so small.

"Guy's your food's ready." The waiter called out, breaking up the uncomfortable situation. Julie picked up the food and they left as quickly as possible.

"What was that?" Julie asked once they were in the safety of Tim's truck. Tim looked over at Julie and instantly knew he was in big trouble; her eyes had this angry glint to them, her nose was scrunched slightly, and her lips were pursed as she awaited his answer. All the signs of one very pissed of Julie Taylor. Normally, Tim found her cute when she was angry, but today was different. Today they were telling her dad she was pregnant, they had enough to be stressed about, he didn't need to add to her stress; it's not good for the baby.

"I screwed up, I know, Jules. I'm sorry." Tim started placing his hand on her knee. "It's just . . . I thought he might have hurt you . . . and I just . . . I don't know . . . I snapped." He said trying to find the best way to put what he was feeling into words. "I just wanted to protect you." He added.

"And I get that, Tim. I'm pregnant, but that doesn't mean you need to protect me from every little thing. I'm not gonna break." Julie said as she interlaced her fingers with Tim's hand still resting on her knee. She really wanted to be mad at him for his outburst and for drawing attention to them, but how could she be mad at the guy when he was just trying to protect her and their baby.

"I know. I really am sorry, Jules." Tim said and kissed her knuckles before letting her hand go to start up the car and head towards the Taylor's.

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"So . . . what exactly is our plan of attack?" Julie asked once Tim had pulled into the Taylor's driveway. He put the Silverado in park and turned to look at Julie with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Plan of attack?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, you know, how do we want to tell him? Should we ease into it or rip the band aid off and tell him right away?" Julie asked. Tim squinted at her momentarily, making her wonder what he was thinking because she's seen that look, he's never used it on her, but he had used in on a lot of the JV players.

"You seriously waited until we were in your driveway to ask that?" He questioned, not only was that very un-Julie like because she always liked to have a plan for EVERY single little thing, but it also didn't make any since to him as they had about fifteen minutes on the way here to discuss this and she hadn't said a single word. She was stalling, he realized.

"Well, it hadn't crossed my mind earlier." Julie said, to which Tim gave her a very pointed look. "Okay, fine, it's been on my mind since I told my mom this morning. It's just . . . I'm not ready go in there and tell him." Julie admitted and looked down at her hands. It wouldn't be easy for either of them to tell Eric. He will be beyond pissed at them, but he will also be so disappointed and Julie couldn't bear to see him disappointed in her, or in Tim.

"Everything will be fine, Jules. He'll be upset for sure, but he'll get over it because you're his daughter, and he loves you, more than anything in this world. Even football." Tim said causing Julie to chuckle slightly as his last comment. "In all of my experiences explaining my bullshit to you dad in the past, I've noticed he's not much for all the backstory, or any excuses, he gets annoyed too easily by all that. So, I think it's best if we just tell him upfront." Tim added.

"Alright." Julie simply said. She exhaled one last shaky breath before the two exited the truck together and made their way towards the Taylor house. "Can we at least wait until after dinner? I'm starving." Julie said casually, looking up at Tim hopefully. He just chuckled at her.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

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"We come bearing food." Julie said as she and Tim walked into the door and placed the two bags of food on the table. "And we made sure to ask for extra sauce on the ribs, just the way you like." Julie added as her dad got up from his recliner and made his way to the delicious smell of barbeque.

"Great, I'm starving. Thanks for getting this guys." Coach said as he rifled through the bags looking for those ribs. "How much do I owe you?" He asked looking at Tim.

"Oh, you don't owe me anything." Tim said looking down at the floor; he gets his Coach's daughter pregnant and he wants to pay Tim for getting food? Yeah, Tim didn't think that would end well once they told him Julie's pregnant.

"Seriously, son, how much do I owe you." Eric asked again, never one to give up. Normally, when Tim and Julie went to get the food, instead of him and Tami, he would give Julie enough cash to cover everything. On the few rare occasions he had forgotten, Tim had paid, and much like this very moment, Eric would offer to pay him back. Tim would always refuse, until eventually Eric just handed him a couple of twenty dollar bills and told Tim he better not hand it back or he'd have to kick his ass in ping pong later, to which Tim would laugh and tell the "old man" to bring it.

"It's fine really, don't worry about it." Tim replied, still looking at his feet. This part was new to Eric, there never used to be any looking at feet. He squinted at his fullback wondering why he seemed so solemn, or more so than usual anyway. He let the situation go for now, but made a mental note to give Tim some money before he left and also to ask him what was going on. They won the game today, he shouldn't be looking so serious, he should be happy right now.

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Tim and Eric talked about football the majority of dinner, much like they usually would. Only this time, without the usual complaints from Julie and Tami, who seemed to be having a silent conversation over something Eric knew nothing about. _Must be girl stuff,_ he thought. Why else would they not openly speak about whatever it is they were talking about? Tami sent Julie a look as if to say "it's now or never," to which Julie shook her head abruptly. She wasn't ready, her dad and Tim were getting along so well, Eric basically looks at Tim like a son at this point. How could she ruin that relationship, knowing how much having Eric as a father figure means to Tim, in just a matter of seconds. Tami, on the other hand was done playing games.

"Julie and Tim have something they need to tell you." She said sending pointed looks to the teenagers sitting across the table from her. Julie's eyes widened as she looked at her mother in horrified shock, while Tim looked down at his plate, playing with his food, and Eric just squinted between his wife and Tim and Julie, all of which were refusing to meet his stare.

"Alright, tell me about what?" Eric asked, his tone sharp as he watched the two teenagers squirm at the uncomfortableness of being put on the spot. When it seemed quite clear they had no intention of speaking up anytime soon, Tami spoke again.

"Either you two tell him, or I will, and trust me, it'll be a lot better coming from you."

Julie sighed, a big, heavy, dramatic sigh as if she held the weight of the world in her hands, which may not be true, but she did hold her and Tim's lives in her words. She looked at Tim, who nodded and grabbed her hand. _Band-Aid,_ she thought, _just like ripping off a Band-Aid._ "I'm pregnant." She finally blurted out. Eric looked at her blankly for a moment before he broke out into laughter. Okay, it's safe to say that was not the reaction everyone at the table was expecting to get.

Eric looked around the table at all the serious, un-laughing faces around him and his laughter died almost as quickly as it came. "This is a joke, right? You guys are just messing with me. You're not really. . ." Eric couldn't even finish the sentence as he suddenly grew very serious, not liking the looks on everyone's faces.

"Eric, it's not a joke honey." Tami said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked at her in shock.

"Wait, you're what?" He asked looking at Julie almost as horrified as she had looked earlier. "You're . . ."He couldn't even finish the sentence. "And you knew?" He asked sending an accusatory glance in his wife's direction and he shot up from his seat. "How could you keep something like that from me? Something that important?"

"I just found out this morning, after you left for work, Julie and I decided it was best to wait until after the game to tell you." Tami started. "We just thought it'd be best to-"

"Wait, you and Julie decided?" Eric cut her off before she could continue. "Since when do you and Julie get to decide what's best for me? Shouldn't I be able to know something as important as my seventeen-year-old daughter getting pregnant as soon as everyone else find outs?!" Eric asked, angrier at that at this point than he was about the pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, he was definitely disappointed in both Julie and Tim, but right now he just cares about the fact that he was left out of some very important conversations.

"Dad, it's not her fault. I begged her not to tell you! I just didn't want you to be upset at us. Tim has worked so hard to be excepted into this family, I just didn't want you to look at him differently." Julie said as she stood up from her seat as well and attempted to get closer to her dad, but he stepped away.

"I'm not angry, Jules. I'm just disappointed." Eric said solemnly. He looked at everyone sitting or standing around the table that he was now a safe distance away from. Did they really think he'd just snap? Did they think that little of his self-control? Did they think he wouldn't be able to handle it? Yes, he was disappointed in the two teens. What parent in their right mind wouldn't be? He just wished they had told him earlier, that they had trusted him to not "flip out" or whatever it was they were so worried about. He sighed as he looked around the table one last time.

"I need to take a moment to clear my head. I'm gonna head out for a bit. When I get back we can all sit down and talk about this, okay? If it starts to get too late, then we'll talk about this tomorrow, but we will be talking about it." Eric asked calmly. Everyone looked at him wide-eyed. They truly expected a blowup of epic proportions. What they got almost seemed worse, he wasn't angry at Tim and Julie for getting pregnant, he was upset that they kept it from him.

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Eric found himself about an hour later sitting in the bleachers of the now empty football field, looking down at his phone at a number he hadn't dialed in years. He'd been debating whether or not to call the number for the last half hour or so. He wasn't sure we wanted to call, he knew it would most likely only result in a headache, much like any other time he called the number, yet he felt like he had to call. He wasn't sure what it would accomplish, but he couldn't shake this feeling, so he pressed call and held the phone up to his ear. It rang several times before a gravelly voice spoke on the other end.

"Hello?"

"How did you feel when I told you Tami was pregnant?" Eric asked suddenly, he had to know. He didn't know what he was feeling right now; he couldn't put it into works anyway, maybe the other man on the phone could.

"Eric?" He asked confusedly, Eric could almost laugh at the look he was sure was on the other man's face, he was probably checking the caller ID to see if it really was him.

"Yeah, dad, it's me." Eric said with a sigh, he hadn't spoken to his dad in years; not since he turned down a job to coach college ball back when Julie was just a kid. He could help but think back to that time, the day his father had officially given up on him. He and his father had always had their issues, but Eric always guessed that was the breaking point for David. He always expected more for Eric, he always expected his son to go on to coach college ball, or even pro, he could never understand why Eric insisted on sticking with high school football, especially considering he hadn't even become head coach until a few years ago.

"_Tami? Tami you home?" Eric called out as he walked into the house. He had some new to tell her, big news, life changing news. He just wasn't sure how she would feel about it, hell, he wasn't even sure how he felt about it._

"_I'm in the shower." He heard Tami call out from the general direction of their bathroom. Their house was small, a two bedroom on the outskirts of Dillon, Tami's been wanting to get a new place, somewhere closer to town and made a little bigger, at least three bedrooms, she's been talking about how she wants them to have an extra room when family comes to visit. Money's been a little tight lately, though. Tami's offered to get a job to help out multiple times, but Eric's always refused, "Julie likes having you home when she gets home from school every day," he would say. Tami always relented, but honestly, she was tired of staying home all the time, Julie's ten years old now, she should be fine on her own for a few hours each day. Tami just wanted to work, even if it was just part-time._

"_Well, come out! I've got something to tell you." Eric said. He heard a groan and then the shower turn off a moment later. Tami emerged wrapped in a towel, hair dripping._

"_Seriously, hon? Whatever it was couldn't have waited like five more minutes?" Tami asked clearly irritated. Eric looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. It probably could have waited, but he was sure his wife would want to know this news as soon as possible. _

"_I got a job offer, assistant coach at TMU." Eric said, his tone sounding both excited and unsure at the same time. He was excited, it was a great offer, and it included a very nice raise, but he also wasn't sure he could leave his team just like that, or make his family just pack up and move from the only town they'd ever called home. _

"_That's great, honey!" Tami said, but she knew her husband well, she'd seen the look on his face enough times to know he felt conflicted about the whole thing. "What's wrong?" She asked. Eric sighed and sat down on the couch. Tami sat next to him and waited for him to speak._

"_It's a great opportunity, I just don't know if I can up and leave the team when were so close to making it to state, you know? Plus, I'm not sure how much I could really do there, once they've gotten to the college level, there's not too much to teach them, the player you see is usually the player you're gonna get. When you work with them at the high school level, you still have time to mold them, really create a great player on the field, and hopefully, an even better man off of it." Eric said._

"_Well, then hon, it seems to me like you've already made up your mind." Tami said placing a hand on his knee. Eric looked up at his wife, he didn't know how he'd gotten so damn lucky._

_Eric's father called him almost a week after that, having heard that he turned down the offer from TMU from Eric's mother, Linda. He wasn't very pleased to hear his son rejected the offer and he made it quite clear._

"_How could you just throw away an opportunity like that? Do you really want to continue be an assistant coach for a high school team? Is that really the life you want for you and your family?" David asked. Eric rolled his eyes. Yes, he could admit, that rolling his eyes at thirty-three years old was a little immature, but his father always brought out that side of him, probably because he still treated Eric like a child rather than a man that had a child of his own._

"_I'm not going to be the assistant coach forever, and I have more of an impact coaching high school football than I ever could coaching college ball, this is the age when these boys need someone in their life, a person they can go to when they need help." Eric said in one long, frustrated breath. "Don't you get that? This is the time that makes all the difference. I want to help make that difference." He added, he knew his father would never get it, but he wished just for once, that he could see things the way Eric did. Just once._

"_I don't get it, Eric. You can do so much more, why are you still sitting in that backwards town waiting to be head coach when you've got an opportunity this big sitting in the palm of your hands." _

"_You know what, you're never going to understand, and that's okay. . . But, I'm not going to sit here and try to explain my actions to you when I know it's just going to fall on deaf ears; I know you don't care, and that's fine, you don't have to." Eric said, he wished his father would understand, but he wasn't about to waste his time to try and force him to. "Honestly, if you just called to tell me that I'm making a mistake, then you're wasting your time. The decision's been made; I'm staying in Dillon."_

That was the last time Eric spoke to his father. He couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh as the memory played out in his head because of how much it reminded him of his own relationship with his daughter. She was always telling him that he didn't understand her, or that he knew would. Sometimes, she was right, other times he just let her believe she was. But, was it true? And if so, did that make him like his father? Like the one man he tried so hard not to become?

"Hello?" Eric heard on the other line of the phone, he was so lost in his own head that he'd almost forgotten he'd called his father in the first place.

"Yeah, I'm still here. Sorry." Eric started, he wasn't sure what he was expecting to get out of making this phone call, maybe some insight. Granted, when Eric told David that Tami was pregnant, he wasn't in high school, he was twenty-two and had just finished college, Tami was twenty-one and in her final year. They were both still so young though, and unmarried, something both their parents had a problem with. "I really shouldn't have called. I just got to thinking, and I realized I never really did know how you felt about me and Tami getting pregnant so young, I know you were angry. You made that very clear. But, what else did you feel? Anger couldn't have been the only thing."

"Well, more than anything I was disappointed. I knew that you having a kid so young wouldn't give you many options for the future. You and Tami weren't even married, which was pretty upsetting for your mother and I, and you two didn't have any plans. You just decided you were gonna have this baby. You hadn't made plans for how you were going to be able to afford it, neither of you had jobs at the time. It just seemed like it wouldn't work." David started. "I was angry that you just seemed so willing to throw your life away over some girl. . . But I was wrong, you weren't throwing your life away." He added, catching Eric by surprise. He'd never expected to hear his father say something like that, he'd just assumed he would always be seen as a screw-up in his eyes. "You were beginning a new life, starting a family with the woman you loved. It took me a long time to see that, longer than it should've. I missed out on so much because of that, and I regret it every day now."

Eric was shocked. Of all the things he had expected David to say, that had not been it. He'd expected him to say that Eric was a disgrace, a nobody going nowhere . . . something. He'd never expected him to express regret, and give him what almost sounded like an apology, at least as close of an apology as Eric would ever get from the man.

"Why do you ask? It seems a bit odd that you would want to know now, all these years later." 

Eric sighed, he knew that question would come. "Because I just found out Julie's pregnant." He said, voice a bit shaky. He couldn't believe he'd just told his father, of all people, that his daughter is pregnant. He half expected David to make some joke about history repeating itself, but what he said next was much more surprising than anything he'd said all night.

"Well, since you're on the phone with my asking how I felt when you told me the news, then, I'm guessing, you're not really sure what you're feeling. Shocked, disappointed, scared, anger? All the above? . . . I can't tell you how to feel, but I will tell you not to push her away, or to make her feel like she did something wrong. Even if you don't want to, you've got to except it. If you don't she'll walk right out of your life, and that little girl of yours is just as damn suborn as you are, only she got a double whammy thanks to your wife too, so I have a feeling if you shut her out, or if she shuts you out . . . that's one door that will never be able to be reopened. Just keep that in mind."

Eric and David spoke a little longer after that, just catching up. When he finally hung up the phone, he sat for a while longer, he wasn't sure what to say, but he knew what to do now. He had to go talk to his family. He had to let Julie know that he'd be there, no matter what.

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I know a lot of you were probably expecting a big blow up, but after talking with Naguabo because I was struggling with how Coach Taylor would react, he mentioned that he didn't really think Coach would react that way given how I had already written him in previous chapters. He also gave me a great line that he agreed to let me use in my story; you'll see it in the next chapter. So big thank you to Naguabo for helping be get through this chapter. Oh, and I know some of you might be bothered, by the kind of "sexist" roles between Tami and Eric in the flashback scene, but honestly I want off an episode in the first season for that, when Tami got the job as school counselor at the high school. . . Next chapter you'll see the big talk between Eric, Tami, Julie, and Tim, and you'll also get to see Tim and Julie's first sonogram! Thank you all so much for continuing to be patient with me as I get out these chapters. I know it can be so annoying when stories aren't updated as frequently as you would like. Be sure to tell me your thoughts in a review or PM as well as anything thing you'd like to see in upcoming chapters. And of course, as always, I hope you enjoyed with chapter and don't forget to review, follow, and favorite!


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